Plush
by a-rod48
Summary: When a series of unfortunate events leave Riley the Ralts paralyzed and mistaken for a stuffed Pokemon, Riley helps guide her young owner Alexa through the troubles she faces. (Rated T for a rather graphic prologue)
1. Prologue

**I don't own Pokemon (I don't see why anyone would think I do, but I legally I should say that anyway.) Enjoy!**

* * *

Sinnoh is a beautiful place, and today was a beautiful day. Riley, a Ralts, was out enjoying the sunshine in the field next to their home. Her father had just gone to find some fresh berries in the trees nearby, so she was just alone to her thoughts. Or so she thought.

_Ralts: The Feeling Pokémon. It is highly attuned to the emotions of people and Pokémon. It hides if it senses danger. Evolves into Kirlia, then Gardevoir or Gallade._

"Not bad... Should make a good addition to the team. Go Gyarados!" The trainer threw out the pokéball and out of it emerged the large sea serpent. "Now use Hydro Pump!"

Riley, was helpless as the jet of water hit her straight on, sending her across the field.

"Finish it with Bite!" Riley was scared, terrified of the beast charging at her. There was nowhere to run in the open field. As Gyarados got to her a cloud of dust erupted.

Satisfied with Gyarados' performance, the trainer prepared an empty pokéball for the Ralts. But as the dust cleared, there were not two Pokémon there, but three; his Gyarados, the Ralts, and a Gallade, who had just finished using protect.

_"Daddy!"_

_ "Don't worry honey, I'll take care of you." _Gallade then turned to the water type in front of him, behind it was the trainer, clearly angry at this intervention.

"That's it, I want that Ralts and no Pokémon is going to stand in my way! Gyarados, Hyper Beam!"

Gallade had no time to react as the beam of energy travelled at lightning speed toward him. It didn't hit him, but all he could do was watch in horror as it struck his baby girl and sent her flying into the distance. "_NO!"_

_ "Daaaaadyyyyyy!"_ That was the last he heard of her, as she disappeared into the sky.

She felt like she was flying for hours. Fears raced through her head. _Where am I going? Is Daddy ok? Will I ever see him again?_ Those fears were replaced with a more imminent danger as the ground quickly approached. She had been flung far. The city was below her, shops, markets, and parks flew by. She braced herself as she landed on top of a large building. "_OUCH!" _She was hurt but she was ultimately fine. _"Where am I?" _She got up and looked around, large building and smokestacks surrounded her, there was an unnatural smell in the air. She looked through one of the building's skylights and saw a factory below her. Pokémon plushies were being sewed, stuffed, and packaged. Some were being put in boxes, others simply had tags through the ears, there were even some being attached to the back of backpacks. She saw Pikachus, Squirtles, Eevees, and even some Ralts. She had never seen such big machines before! She was so enamored by what was going on below her that she didn't notice the two Murkrow sneak up behind her.

_"What are you doing on our roof!"_

_ "Yeah, this is our spot, go find your own!"_

_"I'm sorry! Where am I? How do I get down? Can you help me?"_

_ "Oh, we can help you get down..." _One Murkrow looked at the other and snickered. The other got the idea. It walked behind Riley and used its beak to open the skylight.

_"What are you doing?" _Riley said, turning to the window opener.

_ "Down you go!" _The other said, and shoved her over the edge. _"Hehehe"_

Riley landed with a thud on a conveyor of cotton. Of course it was too loud in the factory for any of the workers to notice. She saw the cotton in front of her fall into a small machine, which would close, then open back up without any cotton inside. She tried to get up but to her horror she fell backward into the machine. The lid closed and a piston came down, forcing her through a hole in the bottom into a Ralts plush that was meant to be filled with cotton. She tried to break free from the arms holding it but she was too weak to do much of anything. _At least the worst of it is over._ She thought.

She was wrong.

The machine took her to the next point on the line, a large sewing machine meant to seal the plushie plunged a needle into the base of her spine. Immense pain shot through her body with every pass of the needle. An ear piercing scream was heard throughout the factory, every worker hit the floor from the pain Riley' empathic abilities caused them. 52 stitches, each piercing her spinal cord, all the way to the base of her neck. Another needle came down and sewed a small ribbon loop into the back of her neck, tearing its way through her vocal cords, silencing her screams. The machine then dropped her onto the next belt. The whole factory shut down as the workers tried to figure out what happened. Now was the perfect opportunity for her to simply roll off of the conveyor belt and find a way out of there, If she hadn't been paralyzed from the neck down. The machine started back up and continued into a washing area, where streams of water washed the blood off of her back, erasing any evidence of what had happened. Hot jets of air dried her off.

As she exited the drying area a switcher was directing the stuffed Pokémon to different areas. Riley was switched to the left, where a worker grabbed another needle and secured a tag through her hand, fortunately between her fingers. She was placed into a box with a pile of other stuffed Pokémon.

Riley was scared. She couldn't move, couldn't talk. Everyone thought she was a plush facsimile of what she really was. And on top of it all, she had no idea where they were sending her. More and more plushies were piled on top of her. As the box was sealed, all she could do was cry.

* * *

**Wow, I feel bad for her...**


	2. Chapter 1: A day at the Carnival

**Nice to be posting again! Sorry for the long wait. **

* * *

Alexa laid in the back of the van, asleep. The night before, after her mother tucked her into bed and left the room, she secretly turned on her TV. The Unova region grand festival was being televised live, and she wasn't going to let a silly thing like time zones stop her from watching it.

"Honey? Wake up! We're here." Her mother beckoned to the back of the van.

Groggily waking up, she replied with a small "where?"

"Look for yourself!"

"Wow!" was all Alexa managed to say as she stepped out of the van. Her tiredness vanishing. In all of her six years she had never seen such a beautiful sight. Candy floss, Carnival games, and gigantic rides as far as the eye could see.

"Come on honey, let's go!" her mother said softly, sticking out her hand for Alexa to hold.

Alexa grabbed it and skipped giddily alongside her. Where to go first? The normally bland square was filled with fun opportunities. Did she want to test her luck at the games? Maybe ride the Ferris Wheel to the very top? As she looked around she saw the only thing that could make her more excited. The contest hall, with a bright banner that read 'Hearthome Festival Pokémon Contest' hung across the front.

"Mommy! Can we go to the-"

"Hey!" The interrupting shout came from the distance. She saw someone waving at them, a friend of her mom's.

"Well Hi! How are you doing?" Her mother said as they walked over to greet him. Alexa simply crossed her arms and pouted. The talking seemed to go on forever and ever. Any attempt to interrupt the conversation was met with a rather dismissive "Not now sweetie." What a great way to spend a festival.

Suddenly the Amity Square PA system suddenly rang out "Round 1 of the Hearthome Festival Pokémon Contest is about to begin!" Alexa wasn't about to miss the opportunity to see her first live Pokémon Contest. Being a coordinator was all she ever could think about. She dreamed that one day, she would be the best coordinator in all of Sinnoh. So after a quick glance up at her mother, still absentmindedly taking with her friend, she took off.

The Contest Hall was packed, people from all over had come to see the event. Fortunately for her there was one front row seat left, she rushed to it just as the next coordinator was introduced.

"And now for our next entry, It's Dawn!" The crowd cheered as the blue-haired coordinator approached center stage.

The crowd grew silent as she readied for her performance. "Piplup, Pachirisu... SPOTLIGHT!" Alexa was already on the edge of her seat as the two Pokémon burst from their Pokéballs in a cloud of confetti. Dawn ordered Pachirisu to use Sweet Kiss, with Piplup following it up with Bubblebeam. The Hall filled with bubble hearts as the crowd oohed and ahhed the lovely spheres.

As the display continued Alexa was mystified by the beautiful performance. How Pokémon could work together to create such beautiful displays was incredible.

"Alright, let's finish this up, Pachirisu, Discharge. Piplup, Whirlpool!" Sparks filled the air around Piplup as he created a monstrous funnel of water. With a simple gesture Pachirisu brought the electricity in on the whirlpool and it exploded into a sparking cloud of mist.

Of all of the cheers in the auditorium Alexa's had to have been the loudest. If she had doubts about wanting to be a coordinator before, they certainly were gone now.

* * *

Riley was startled awake by a hand grabbing her. The last thing she remembered was the box being placed onto a truck and taken away. The shock of yesterday's events had finally worn off and it was replaced with worry. _How am I going to get out of this mess?_ She thought as she was hung up by the ribbon. Surprisingly being hung by the neck wasn't painful in the slightest, of course it was probably due to not being able to feel her body at all. RIley found herself hanging from the ceiling of a small booth filled with plushies, dolls, and other Pokémon toys. She watched as people scurried about in front of her. _I'll never get anyone's attention with this many people here! _The waves of emotions coming from these people were strong. Most of it was joy and excitement, a few had flashes of anxiety. But in this sea of feelings one emotion shot out, fear. It wasn't an ordinary fear though. It was the fear of loss, the same kind of feeling she felt from her father the day before. She saw a woman frantically run around the fair, one word on her mind. 'Alexa'.

* * *

"Mommy? Mommy!" Alexa yelled, receiving no answer in return. She thought for certain her mom would be talking forever, but as Alexa left the Contest Hall her mother was nowhere to be found. Most kids would be scared, but not Alexa. Alexa never got scared. Everyone at school knew that. Being the fearless girl she was she simply started walking, keeping an eye out for her mother.

_I can't see!_ she thought to herself. _Aha!_ Alexa darted behind one of the food booths. Using a milk crate as a stepping stool she got up on top of one of the trash cans_. Still nothing._ From her perch she grabbed the edge of the booth and pulled herself up onto the top. From there she could see almost the whole festival.

"There she is! Mommy! Mom-Woah!" Alexa screamed as she lost her footing and fell unnoticed into the candy floss bin below her. The machine churned out so much of the stuff she was quickly buried. Not a single person could see her for all the pink. It was comfortable, too comfortable, the lack of sleep caught up to her as she closed her eyes and dosed off.

* * *

Riley was bored. Literally hanging around was not the most fun thing. The people below her were definitely having more fun than her. From what she could gather, some sort of game was being played below. The winners would win a prize, one of the many plushes she was hanging next to. With each win came the hope someone would get her down, but it was shortly followed with disappointment as the winner chose to get something else.

_Time to have some fun with this._ Riley thought. She focused her thoughts on a random passerby, pulling on his emotions to compel him to sit down at the game. One by one she pulled people over, a young man, a blonde woman, a pair of young twins, she kept pulling people over until the seats were filled.

"Alright folks, Welcome to the Rhyhorn Races!" The game operator said over the loudspeaker. "Looks like we've got a full house! The winner of this game gets to pick any prize I got. The game is simple, roll your ball up the ramp into one of these holes. Miss the holes, your Rhyhorn only moves a little bit, the yellow holes make it move faster, the blue even faster, and the red is the fastest. The first person with a Rhyhorn across the finish line wins! At the sound of the bell get to racing! On your marks…. Get set…."

*BRRRRRIIIING!*

"And they're off! Looks like #3 is off to an early lead, 5, 6 and 12 are out of the gate. It looks like a tight race folks! 2, 10, and 8, you've got some catching up to do! Coming up at the halfway point it looks like 3 still has the lead with 5 and 12 right on its tail!"

Riley could sense the tense excitement between the three racers. She knew what she had to do now. _Let's pump it up a little._ She took those feelings of competition and turned them up to 11. The blond woman and the twins visibly reacted to this and zoned in on the goal.

"Looks like it's coming down to the wire here folks, they are neck and neck down the last stretch. OOH looks like #3 has slowed down!"

Riley felt one of the twin's hearts drop.

"This is it, a photo finish! Who will win?"

With the skill of a master carnie, the blonde flung her ball up the ramp one last time, landing straight in the red.

"12 is the winner! Congratulations! Pick a prize!"

She looked over the booth carefully, considering her options. "I'll take….. That one!"

_Yes!_ Riley (mentally) shouted as she was lifted off of the hook and handed to the woman.

"One stuffed Ralts for the lovely lady! That's it for this race. Come back soon y'all!"

The woman let out a squeeish "So Cute!" as she gave Riley a squeeze. "I think I'm gonna name yo-, "She started, only to be cut off by the ringing in her pocket. "Yo, this is Bebe….. Wait WHAT!? The whole system's down?! I'll be right there." Bebe placed her new toy into her backpack, zipping it up so that the head was still poking out, and took off running.

* * *

**Before you ask, Dawn is not going to be recurring. Figured a little cameo would be nice. While I did take her performance from "Dawn's Early Night", I did take some creative liberties since there wasn't a carnival going on outside.**

**As for other inspiration, two things came to mind. The game Bebe played is one of my favorites at our city's Fall Festival. Of course it's horses instead of Rhyhorn. **

**And secondly, come on. You KNOW laying down in candy floss would be freakin comfy.**


End file.
